Every Day at 3:16…

An alarm goes off on my phone every day at 3:16 that plays a beautiful violin song. It’s my reminder to stop whatever I am doing and feel gratitude for the things happening in my world – no matter how small or few.

Lately I have been quick to dismiss the alarm and continue on with my day, but today (despite feeling totally overwhelmed) I stopped. I set that alarm for a reason, with an intention to have a moment – even just 10 seconds – to say thank you.

But life is having some weird twists right now – many of them very stressful and a bit scary. When the 3:16 alarm went off today, I struggled to find gratitude. How does one findgratitude in total chaos?

Then I remembered that chaos always brings change. The world crashing down brings surrender – usually to a higher power. The demon on my doorstep was forcing me to face it head on (doing so would actually give me peace of mind). And yeah; maybe rejection really is god’s protection. The closed doors were nudging me to change direction – toward something a little scary, but much more fulfilling for me. This mess was sparking action – the action my life desperately needed.

Maybe this chaos is guiding me toward something better, building something new within me, or clearing away things that are no longer serving me. Maybe this chaos is propelling me to take the action needed to heal old wounds, break patterns or overcome setbacks.

That epiphany changed how I see the mess and chaos in life. I can now find gratitude and blessings in those places – no matter how small or few.

3:16 is my moment to view the world with fresh eyes each day. The numbers 3:16 represent the time of my birth. This is my reminder to renew my life force each day… to be in wonder, awe and gratitude with where I am right now, every day – just as I did the moment I took my very first breath.

This is beautiful. Day to day life is so hectic, finding time to be calm and centred is almost impossible ~ I might follow your lead and set an alarm for 5.28 and find time to reflect and be grateful. x

This idea intrigues me! I write down things I’m thankful for at night, but I like that this is in the middle of the day, no matter if you’re busy or overwhelmed… especially if you’re busy or overwhelmed, being thankful can reset your perspective.

It truly does help keep me centered each the day… and now I find myself in that grateful state throughout the day – I find myself focusing on all the blessings as I go through each day. It’s wonderful to experience life this way, especially in the harder times. I’m constantly experimenting with different ways of working with gratitude. This has been a great method for me. I confess; I barely do my gratitude journal now – it’s all spoken or obsessed over throughout the day now.

The following happened a few hours after posting this article. Below, I’m sharing an important detail that was omitted from the article because I didn’t think to include it at the time.

Just before 3:16 today, I narrowly missed being in an accident with a car that ran a red light. A difference of one second would have made this a drastically different story – assuming I survived it to tell it.

It took me a moment to realize what had just happened. When the shock wore off, I saw the car ahead of me. I hit the gas and went after it, and when I caught up to it at the next light, I made a hard stop right next to it. I had words for this driver.

It was a middle aged woman. Short hair. Glasses. The kind who probably lives for her grandkids and secretly loves reality TV. I beeped. Rolled down my window. She rolled down hers.

“Did you just run that red light?” I asked with an equanimity uncharacteristic of any redhead in history. Karen Kaye must have stepped out of my body because I was clearly channeling some higher being at this particular moment.

The woman looked shocked. I said, “You nearly hit me.” She begins apologizing… confessing she heard screeching (apparently from another car)… she doesn’t know what happened…

I could have used this moment to launch a self-righteous tirade and pontification (drawing from my newfound wisdom from recently completing traffic school after tailgating a police officer on a motorcycle).

What I said next actually took me aback.

I asked her, “Are you okay?”.

And I realized that I was asking her that out of sincere concern. Was she safe to be driving? Was she simply distracted by troubled thoughts? Was she deeply shaken from realizing her distraction could have been fatal for an innocent soul?

The last thing I remember is the woman reaching her hand toward me – perhaps in an oddly desperate attempt to connect with me… And I realized then that in a way, we HAD connected. We connected because for some insane reason, I responded with concern, compassion and forgiveness instead of anger.

Three minutes later, I arrived at my destination. And just as I am about to exit my car, my phone begins playing a beautiful violin song. It was my 3:16 alarm reminding me to take a moment of gratitude.

I brought my hands to my heart and said, thank you thank you thank you… and today, I took longer than usual to express my gratitudes for all the blessings before me.

I didn’t mention this next part in the article I posted this morning. But it needs to be shared now.

Every day I passionately thank my angels and guides and the universe for keeping me divinely protected.

Missing a horrible car accident by ONE SECOND is being divinely protected.

What a great idea with choosing this time. I love the idea. I might do that too, but a chosen time not my birth time as that was during night. I do reflect in the evenings and right down things I am grateful for. I do celebrate a second birthday which was a day I had a difficult operation and I woke up from it alive. That was like I started life again.